The Hawaiian tropical low shrublands are a tropical savanna ecoregion in the Hawaiian Islands.
| Hawaiian tropical low shrublands | |
| Country: | United States |
| State: | Hawaii |
| Border: | Hawaiian tropical dry forests[1] |
| Area: | 1500 |
| Biogeographic Realm: | Oceanian |
| Biome: | Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands |
| Climate: | Tropical savanna (Aw) |
| Conservation: | Critical/Endangered |
| Global200: | No[2] |
| Protected: | 0 km² (0 |
| Protected Ref: | )[3] |
These shrublands cover an area of 1500km2 in the leeward lowlands of the main islands and most of the smaller islands, not including the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands which form an ecoregion of their own.
The ecoregion includes both grasslands and mixed shrublands. Kāwelu (Eragrostis variabilis), mauʻu ʻakiʻaki (Fimbristylis cymosa), ʻakiʻaki (Sporobolus virginicus), and Lepturus repens are common grassland plants. Shrublands are dominated by ʻilima (Sida fallax), ʻaʻaliʻi (Dodonaea viscosa), naupaka (Scaevola spp.), hinahina kū kahakai (Heliotropium anomalum var. argenteum), kīpūkai (Heliotropium curassavicum), maʻo (Gossypium tomentosum), ʻakoko (Euphorbia spp.), ʻāheahea (Chenopodium oahuense), naio (Myoporum sandwicense), kolokolo kahakai (Vitex rotundifolia), and pūkiawe (Styphelia tameiameiae). More than 90% of the plant species found in this ecoregion are endemic, including ʻōhai (Sesbania tomentosa), ʻāwiwi (Schenkia sebaeoides), and wahine noho kula (Isodendrion pyrifolium).[4]
Protected areas that cover part of the ecoregion include Koko Head District Park, Diamond Head, Mākua Kea'au Forest Reserve, Ka'ena Point State Park, and Kuaokala Forest Reserve on Oahu.